Ex-Zephyr boss Trisciani adjusting to life at Villanova

VARSITY

Former Whitehall football coach is settling in as an assistant at Villanova

Tony Trisciani was the head coach at Whitehall High School for five seasons. (Denise Sanchez/Morning…)

May 16, 2012|Keith Groller

Tony Trisciani explains the difference between coaching football at Villanova and Whitehall this way:

"Instead of teaching for six hours and doing something I love for three or four hours like I did at Whitehall, now I get to do something I love for 10 hours every day," he said at Green Pond Country Club last week after serving as the main speaker at the 13th annual Villanova University Alumni Lehigh Valley Chapter Scholarship Golf Tournament.

Trisciani was the head coach at Whitehall for five seasons, compiling a 36-22 record. He also was a physical education teacher there, but left in January to become the defensive backs coach at Villanova, where he has been reunited with his former Zephyrs quarterback Chris Polony.

Polony made an immediate impact as a true freshman on the Main Line last fall, playing in seven games. He completed 69 of 122 passes for 713 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions.

"Chris is doing a great job. … He's growing up," Trisciani said. "He went through some growing pains last year, but later on, he started to really come on. He had a pivotal game against UMass [a 35-17 win] where he had some success and became more of a leader. And he's continued to do that this spring.

"He competed with [redshirt freshman] John Robertson all spring and those are the two who got all the reps. They've both really improved and are grasping the offense. They are both going to be different players this fall after getting a whole year under their belt."

Trisciani is also "thrilled" that Central Catholic senior Kevin Gulyas is coming aboard.

"He's arguably the most productive wide receiver in the history of Pennsylvania high school football," Trisciani said. "We're very fortunate to have him as a Wildcat, and in our offense he is going to be a great fit as a slot receiver."

In just four months, Trisciani has a found a fit for himself at Villanova, which has allowed him to return to college football at the FCS (formerly I-AA) level. Trisciani coached at New Hampshire, Lehigh and Elon before taking the Whitehall job.

After being away for five years, Trisciani has noticed changes in recruiting. Changing the landscape is that Patriot League coaches are out there earlier on the trail carrying scholarship offers in their back pockets.

"It's a drastic change for those guys because they no longer have to worry about what Mom and Dad do for work, they can just go out after the best football players,' Trisciani said. "I did that at Lehigh and it's much nicer when you don't have to worry about the paperwork and financial aid forms. You can go into any living room and offer a scholarship to the best players."

Of course, the Patriot League offering scholarships is another challenge for Villanova.

"Now there's 42 scholarships available just in eastern Pennsylvania between Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell," Trisciani said. "It's going to be more competitive for us now at Villanova, and what I have noticed is that it's all so much faster now than it was before. The bigger schools are offering kids earlier. We're going out there now looking at juniors. The bigger schools are already looking at sophomores."

Trisciani said that while rumors about Villanova going to the Big East Conference in football persist, he is not "selling" prospective recruits on that topic.

"The kids do ask about it, and I tell them the same thing I told the alumni group ..., that we just don't know what's going to happen," Trisciani said. "I wouldn't even put odds on it. It's above my pay grade. We're recruiting kids who are on the bubble of being an ACC or Big East kid anyway. Those are the kind of kids you win a national championship with."

While he's excited about what's ahead at Villanova, Trisciani said he still feels connected to the Lehigh Valley football scene and will always have a little maroon and gold in him.

"A lot of the coaches and the people at Whitehall are my best friends," he said. "I still live in Center Valley and it's an easy 45-minute drive from there to Villanova. If we're done early on a Friday night, I look forward to catching as many high school games as I can. I loved my time here. I wouldn't trade it because I learned a ton about being a head coach and looking at the big picture."

'Now when I go into a high school and talk to a head coach, I have a better perspective because I've been on the other side."

Parkland's power

The Parkland High School powerlifting team took second place recently at the Pennsylvania State Coaches Powerlifting Association High School Championships at Glen Mills.

The two-time defending Lehigh Valley Conference champs were behind only Glen Mills in the 11-team event.

Among the top Parkland performances was Zech Rauch, a sophomore, winning the JV (9th-10 grade) 275-pound class and junior Ryan Dupree winning the varsity 242-pound class.

Senior Luke Millan was named the meet's outstanding lifter after winning the 198-pound class with a 1,500-pound total.

"The entire team put in a tremendous amount of work and effort into this, and we are incredibly proud of them," said Erik Steiner, who along with Paul Hagadus coaches the team.

Perez takes parents' path

Eric Perez, the recently crowned three-time District 11 singles tennis champion, is headed to LSU on a scholarship.

Perez, 86-5 in his Southern Lehigh career (singles and doubles), will enroll in January for the spring 2013 semester.

He is a four-time district champ, having won doubles gold as a freshman and singles titles each of the last three years.

His father, Fernando, was a Davis Cup player from Mexico and had a storied career at LSU in the early 1980s. The elder Perez won two SEC singles crowns and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation among college players.

Eric's mother, the former Beth Tostevin, was also a LSU athlete, competing in women's gymnastics. She was also a standout for the Parkettes.